Big skills...pouring

We found Austin a brand new kitchen set at Salvation Army for $7 (woo woo!!) and he instantly LOVED it. Here he is with the tiny cups practicing pouring water from one to the other. The little pitcher on the table is what I put the water in and it's so funny to see things I totally take for granted (pouring) completely fascinate and absorb him for such a long period of time...serious business!

One more reason kids benefit from Dads

Mom is just not as good at wrestling! It's so cool to watch Pete and Austin together. Pete shows him things I'd never dream of, and Austin has identified himself as a little man, but a big boy, and Daddy is a BIG man...and he knows Mommy is not in the pee-standing-up club.

So, there's definitely a special sparkle Austin has in his eye for "Dada"So, the game of "Up/Down" has morphed from going up and down balanced in Papa's hands to numerous other variations, this picture being one of them. Austin launches onto Pete's back and Pete bucks him off amidst fits of giggles, instantly followed by an emphatic and insatiable "(a)gain!!"

A walk in the rain

Nap strikes be foiled, there's something particularly peaceful about a walk in the rain. And there's also something so peaceful about sleeping babies. Pete and Dad were working on the kitchen nook and I took Austin out to calm him down. When we came back in, Pete snapped a couple of shots...this'll probably be one of my favorites for a long time.

Papa's little helper...

Dad has been busy turning our tiny kitchen nook into a functioning eating area with beautiful benches....I'll have to add pics of those too. And Pete busted through the wall so we have windows on both sides!! Here is Papa's little helper. There is no shortage of cute pics of Austin "helping" Papa :D

12 week belly shot

So, most of you already know we're expecting #2! late August/early September. Just thought I'd post a 12 week belly shot....you can't really tell how much is wee bean and how much is delicious bagels with too much cream cheese, but we'll just call it baby ;)

Ham

Austin taking a ride in his dump truck. It was a sunny cool fall day and SO fun to go play in our big backyard, cleaning up getting ready for winter while it's still pretty!

Pete and I are finally really feeling nested in the house. I'll have to take some new pictures of the new(est) arrangement. For those of you who know our chronic furniture rearranging habit, this should come as no great surprise...he he....but the new layout rocks!

Ooh, Fall is here!

I love living in MI where we get all four seasons. That was something I forgot about living in Alaska that fall can last for longer than 1 week. I had no idea different maples lost their leaves at different times, or some dry up and drop off and some cover the ground in this soft, lush carpet of gold. It lasts long enough here that you really feel geared up and excited for winter to come. Well, snow maybe....I'm not particularly jazzed about the wind, but, whatever.

It was brought to my attention that I forget to include much else besides my Austin musings here so I'm going to try and include more. I've considered this sort of his pseudo-baby-book which is I guess why I've focused so wholly on that. Plus, being with him all day is awesome and it means that my world is totally focused and revolving around his milestones, discoveries, etc which I enjoy. So, I'll try and be more inclusive in "family" updates :)

Pete's been working at the Detroit Pub as their Kitchen Guru for about a month now I think? He was hired to be the Kitchen Manager at their new location going up soon and we're all excited about that. In the mean time, we were fortunate that they had a vacancy at their downtown location shortly after Pete was hired but waiting for the new one to open (ack!) so he's been commuting downtown everyday...almost 60 miles round trip! Although now that I think about it, that was my commute from Moose Pass to Seward, but the scenery was quite different :) At any rate, he's looking forward to and anxiously awaiting the official opening. With so many job layoffs in the Detroit area we're both grateful he has a job with potential exciting possibilities of expansion.

We're leaving on Friday to fly to WY for my cousin, Ray's, wedding. It's exciting because we'll get to see all of Dad's family and it's the first family "reunion" my immediate family has ever had (Jus and fam are flying in from Louisiana) away from either house. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone again on Dad's side too. We didn't have much contact growing up and it's nice to be able to touch base periodically. Pete stopped by Grandma's house for a green smoothie on his way to Utah this summer. He sent me to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa several years ago which was awesome.

Oh, Austin is waking up. Hope to post more later.